Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings is expected to leave towards the end of the year. Picture / Jason Oxenham

Fonterra’s search for a replacement for outgoing chief executive Theo Spierings is likely to come down to between three to five candidates, employment experts said.

The co-op, after announcing a $348 million bottom line loss for the first half, said on Wednesday that it started a process last November to identify potential candidates and was now shortlisting candidates.

The decision to announce the succession plan was brought forward from April in order to avoid speculation.

Former Fonterra insiders said there were no obvious internal candidates for the position, which in Spierings case carried with it a $2.46m base salary.

Max Whitehead, principal of Whitehead Group employment specialists, said the process would normally involve a short list of three to five candidates.

“There is a lot of work to be done to ensure that they are of the calibre required,” Whitehead said.

John McGill at Strategic Pay said the process normally involved a directive from a board’s remuneration committee.

In Fonterra’s case, he expected the Fonterra Shareholders Council to have some input. “I suspect that they would be well into the process by now,” he said.

Fonterra said Spierings, who joined late in 2011, would leave towards the end of the year.

John Wilson, who became Fonterra’s chairman in 2012, and directors Ashley Waugh and Nicola Shadbolt are due to retire by rotation.

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